The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Medical devices are often used as diagnostic devices and/or therapeutic devices in diagnosing and/or treating medical conditions of patients. For example, a blood glucose meter is used as a diagnostic device to measure blood glucose levels of patients suffering from diabetes. Blood glucose meters use a test strip that receives a blood sample of the patient. The test strip has electrical contacts on the strip that are electrically contacted when the test strip is inserted into the meter. The meter determines a blood glucose level by measuring currents passed through the electrical contacts of the strip, and provides a readout of the glucose level.
Known meters receive the test strip in an insertion direction that also engages the electrical strip conductors of the test strip with the electrical contacts of the meter. Once initial contact is made by the electrical contacts, the thin gold or conductive metal layer applied to the strip conductors may be displaced as the strip continues in the insertion direction until reaching a stop location. Poor electrical contact can result if the conductive metal layer is displaced with respect to the electrical contacts. This can result in error messages being received by the patient, and the need to repeat the sampling/test procedure.